Left Behind
by Squiggle.giggle
Summary: When a relationship ends, it affects more than the two people in it. Leaving a devastating affect on Nick's younger sister who saw Jeff as her second brother.


**So to be completely honest, I hate this story.**

**I wrote it like 6 months ago, went to send it to my beta and my computer didnt save it. So re writing this kind of pissed me off.**

**But here it is, something different than what I usually write.**

**A shout out to the kids doing their HSC. I feel your pain if you did the math exam**

**Love Squiggle.**

* * *

"Jeff!"

"Get away from me!" the blonde boy quickly scuttled down the flight of stairs, trying to put as much space as possible between him and the boy chasing after him.

Hayley, who was playing with her Barbie doll, changing it into a sparkly red ball gown, looked up to find the source of the commotion. She saw her brother, Nick following Jeff down the stairs rather hurriedly. The brunette boy was shouting apologies and trying to stop his boyfriend from leaving. She placed her beloved Barbie carefully down on the ground before moving closer to the scene in front of her. _This was not normal_, she thought. The couple were usually hugging, laughing, kissing, even if they were chasing each other it was rather playful but this was different. Jeff looked petrified and that worried her.

Jeff was about to open the front door when Nick jumped from the stairs and grasped his boyfriend's arm.

"Let me go!" he shouted as he struggled against the brunette's restraints.

Hayley peaked around the corner of the door frame, watching worriedly as her brother pinned her beloved Jeffy to the wall. The blonde continued shouting at his boyfriend, screaming to be let go while Nick tried to apologise. The little girl wasn't aware of the tears trickling down her face until she moved from her position and ran to help Jeff.

"Don't hurt him!"

Both boys froze at the sound of her voice. The innocence of her timid voice mixed with the scared raw emotion made Nick realise how terrifying and intimidating he must look to her. In his momentary pause Jeff managed to pull himself free of his _boyfriend's? _Hold. Did Jeff even consider him to be his boyfriend now after what he had done to him? The blonde gave a pleading look to the little girl as he ran through the now opened door, but it didn't block out the screams from Hayley.

"No Jeff! Don't go!" she wailed, Jeff looked back at Hayley who was now being restrained by her older brother, kicking and screaming at him. The blonde took a deep shuddering breath before jumping into his car, driving away and not looking back.

* * *

"Should I get a black sharpie or a gold sharpie," Jeff mused to himself as he held two permanent markers in his hands, contemplating which would be most effective in his dance studio.

He was trying to get his mind off everything that had happened in the last few weeks and had thrown himself into his work. Upon reflecting, he had to agree that it was a blessing in disguise. He was more organised now, he was running his dance company more efficiently and his clients were increasingly becoming better and he was scoring more job offers than before. But the blonde couldn't deny that he was lonely, he missed his boyfriend – _ex-boyfriend _he corrected. He misses going home at the end of the day and seeing him with his usual dopey grin when he entered the apartment, either cooking dinner or lying on the couch, a beer in hand as he watched the game on TV. But now, the apartment is cold, lonely and oh so quiet. Nick's little sister would stay with them a few times a week, the bright and bubbly eight year old was either singing or telling them something about the show _Modern Family_ that he didn't quite understand. He shook the thought away, straightening and squaring his shoulders; he took a deep breath and proceeded down the aisle.

That was in the past and he needed to move forward. But how do you move forward after spending every waking moment, thinking about someone you love for the last _five_ years? It would never be easy.

Jeff was almost finished with his shopping; as reached up to a can of deodorant on the top shelf he felt a pair of arms grab his mid-section side on and nearly tumbling to the ground from the force. He stumbled a few steps, noticing little fists started pounding into his stomach. Jeff looked down finally realising who it was, he crouched down and grabbed hold of her little fists.

"Hayley stop it!" the blonde commanded as he tried to control Hayley's flying hands.

"You left me!" she yelled, the venom in her voice quite frightening for someone of her age. "You left me! You just leave and don't even come say hi to me in three weeks? I know you don't like Nicky anymore but what about me!"

"Hayley-"

"I've known you since I was three! You don't call me, I needed you Jeff! You're my friend and you just go without even saying goodbye? Or telling me why you're gone?"

"Hayley!-"

"You're like a brother to me and you just forget me like I don't exist! I hate you!" she repeated over and over again as she began to punch him once more. Jeff narrowed his eyes, grasping her wrists extremely tight, too angry to wipe away the girl's fallen tears.

"HEY!" he yelled grabbing her arms firmly now so he could look her dead in the eye, ignoring the other shoppers that stared at them as they past. "Don't say that, don't you ever say that you hear me?"

Hayley nodded minutely with a sad sniff.

"I'm sorry Hayley, I truly am. I've missed you like crazy in these past three weeks, you have no idea how badly I wanted to see you. Those ducks must be getting pretty hungry at the park don't you think?" he asked, drawing a small laugh from the girl.

Every Thursday the both of them went down to a little pond, sat down and fed the ducks left over bread they had. Jeff always joked they would turn into the most healthy ducks with all the grains and vitamins in the bread they gave them.

"Gosh Hayley I have missed you, I swear you have gotten taller,"

"Why didn't you come visit me? I waited up for ages but you never came and I fell asleep, I missed you." The blonde saw a figure out of the corner of his eye, when he looked up whoever it was, was gone.

"Honey," Jeff started awkwardly.

"No matter what happens between your brother and me, we'll always be friends ok? And you can call me any time ok? Here," he reached into his trolley and grabbed out the gold sharpie marker and wrote down his number on her arm, finishing it with a smiley face at the end. "You call me anytime you want and I'll always answer. Even if it's at three in the morning to complain about a tummy ache because Nick let you eat too much ice cream."

"But it tastes so good!" she defended. Jeff just shook his head as he smiled at her, he didn't realise how much he had missed her.

"Come here," he said, pulling her into a tight hug, her little legs circling his waist as he stood up.

"But you didn't tell me why you never came and saw me," she murmured into his neck. The blonde took a moment to think, _how do you explain this to a little girl?_

"Honey, your brother and I broke up. It would be really awkward if I went to your house and saw you-"

"But he didn't have to know, you could have over when he wasn't there," Hayley protested. Jeff sighed; he was going to have to explain to her why they broke up, it wasn't something he was planning on doing.

"Did Nick tell you why we aren't together anymore?" the little girl shook her head.

"When I asked he would just get angry and leave the room."

"Well, what happened is…"

* * *

'_Think you can keep up?" Jeff teased readjusting his hand on the small of Liam's back._

"_Don't flatter yourself, Sterling," Liam said with a playful eye roll as he place his hand in Jeff's. After a count of three, the blonde stepped back with his left while the other man moved forward with the same foot before slowly waltzing around the dance studio. _

_Liam was a student in Jeff's class; he was twenty one and was trying to learn the waltz so he could perform it at his wedding for his first dance. He was a break dancer and had a free, loose style of dance, so the structure of a waltz was complicated for him. _

_They continued the simple dance for a few minutes, letting the less experienced man adjust to the feel of the dance before they added any spins or hard maneuvers. Just as Jeff was about to suggest they take a break, Liam got a daring look in his eyes, the blonde thought nothing of it as he knew how excitable the other man could be. Liam gently leaned the blonde down to dip him in a dramatic gesture. As Jeff had a minor panic attack, the other man over corrected, resulting in them falling over their feet and hitting each other in the head on the way down to the fall. _

"_Ow!" Jeff winced, rubbing his forehead frowning when he felt a lump forming. _

"_Oh poor Jeffy," Liam mocked sarcastically, placing a teasing kiss to his injured forehead. The blonde rolled his eyes and pushed the other male off him, standing up and extending an arm to the other boy. _

"_I think we are done for the day," Jeff spoke, muttering something about finding an ice pack. The two exchanged a friendly hug before heading their separate ways. _

_Jeff drove to his boyfriend's house, he was hoping for a shower, comfy clothes and a night of take out and movies. It had been a long week, looking for adequate dancers for a music video to dance around in the background. He thought there would be at least five people in the whole city but obviously not. He exited his car and entered the house without knocking; he spotted Nick's younger sister on the couch._

"_Hey Hayles, is Nick upstairs?" Jeff asked, receiving a districted nod as she continued to play with her Barbies. The blonde entered his boyfriend's room and found him standing there shirtless in the walk in wardrobe. _

"_I like it," Jeff said cheekily, leaning against the door frame. The brunette glared at him before hastily taking a cotton shirt off the pile and putting it on. "Shame."_

"_Shut up." _

"_Excuse me?" Jeff asked astounded, his playful tone now gone. "What is your problem?"_

"_You are my problem!" Nick exploded; Jeff stepped back in shock, his back hitting the bedroom wall. _

"_What did I do?"_

"_I came to see you today, wanted to surprise you at the studio but I found you laying on the ground kissing some guy!" Jeff was confused before realisation hit._

"_Oh that, that was nothing. Liam was being an idiot and tripped-"_

"_I don't want to know about you whoring around with some guy! You filthy, disgusting, agh!" Nick couldn't contain it anymore and launched his fist at Jeff, at the last second he seemed to realise just how chaotic the situation had become and angled his first to the left. Jeff stood there dumbfounded, his boyfriend's hand an inch away from his head. Before he could think of anything else, he fled the dangerous atmosphere._

* * *

"But Nicky would never do that!" Hayley protested.

"I know, but when people are angry they can do things they would never normally do," Jeff explained.

"Jeff I'm so sorry," Nick declared, stepping around the end of the aisle. The blonde just stood there, the little girl still in his arms. The brunette tried to take his sister back but she curled into his ex-boyfriend.

"I don't know what you want me to say Nick," Jeff said honestly.

"I know but I just want you to know just how sorry I am."

"That doesn't excuse what you did."

"Of course it doesn't, please let me explain," Nick pleaded. The blonde placed the little girl on the ground before putting his hand on the shopping trolley.

"I'll think about it," was Jeff's parting words before making his way to the check out. Hayley glanced up at her brother and scowled.

"You're stupid."

"I know."

* * *

**So tell me what you think. I reply to every review. **

**I will also help me get over the fact I have spent $50 on ebay on things I dont need**


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